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A New Jersey judge sentenced a former Rutgers student to 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate... Dharun Ravi, 20, was convicted on two second-degree bias intimidation charges in a case that garnered national headlines because his roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide after the spying... The lead prosecutor in the case had asked for "a period of imprisonment" in her sentencing brief but according to Reuters did not seek the maximum 10-year sentence. The prosecution team wrote that Ravi "has failed to accept any degree of responsibility for the numerous criminal acts he committed,...

A YouTube video uploaded on Monday afternoon apparently shows a schoolteacher from the Rowan-Salisbury school district in North Carolina informing a student that failing to be respectful of President Obama is a criminal offense. The video shows a classroom discussion about the Washington Post hit piece about Mitt Romney bullying a kid some five decades ago. One student says, “Didn’t Obama bully someone though?” The teacher says: “Not to my knowledge.” The student then cites the fact that Obama, in Dreams from My Father, admits to shoving a little girl. “Stop, no, because there is no comparison,” screams the teacher....

A session designed to help girls at Mutchmor Public School “recognize their inner voice” drastically went off the rails last week when secrets the girls had written on paper airplanes were read aloud, creating a “domino effect of tears” and prompting the school to send a letter home to parents to explain the debacle. As part of Education Week, the Glebe elementary school invited a speaker to give an anti-bullying workshop and help students focus “on the tools that they have inside of them.” There were separate sessions for girls and boys. Well, there was a session for girls. The...

Was President Obama bullied as a child, as he claimed in a 2011 White House speech -- or was he the bully? This 6-minute clip arranges video of comments by President Obama in 2011 and 2012, and audio of his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father" (read by him)...

Culture Challenge of the Week: Being Christian It’s a story that’s been largely ignored by the mainstream press--perhaps because it challenges the politically correct storyline that it’s gay teens who are persecuted and bullied. Or perhaps it’s because the bully is a man welcomed at the White House—the creator of the LGBT video crusade against bullying, “It Gets Better.� On April 16, hundreds of teenage journalists gathered at a conference sponsored by The National Scholastic Press Association and the Journalism Education Association. Their speaker? Dan Savage, the sex columnist and gay advocate who conceived of the “It Gets Better�...

It is customary when a newspaper makes an after-publication correction or change to an article for it to notify readers that an alteration has taken place. Some time after the Washington Post published a 5000-word hit piece on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Thursday, a key edit was made to the article without such a notification.

The family of the eight-years-deceased alleged victim of a cruel prank by a teenaged Mitt Romney reacted angrily to the Washington Post story yesterday — but not for the reasons one might imagine. Calling the Washington Post story “factually inaccurate,� the sisters of the late John Lauber lashed out at the Post for using him to “further a political agenda� (via Ed Driscoll at Instapundit): The older sister of Mitt Romney’s former high school classmate said she has no knowledge of any bullying incident involving her brother and the GOP presidential candidate.Christine Lauber of South Bend, Ind., had not seen...

Bully story a black eye for Mitt Romney "Straight-laced and squeaky clean Mitt Romney must show he’s not the teen bully critics now say he was, if he hopes to limit the damage from a published report on his prep school days that paints him as a cruel and possibly homophobic prankster who once pinned a vulnerable schoolmate down and cut his bleached-blond locks .... Republican consultant John Feehery called the Washington Post report “troubling” for Romney’s presidential bid.... “For independents, it’s a troubling story. ... They don’t like bullies, and anti-bullying has become a issue on the national stage,”...

Earlier this month, the presidents of America's two largest teachers unions co-hosted a screening of the new documentary "Bully." The movie, of course, aims to combat bullying of schoolchildren. But even as they publicly eschew bullying, these unions and their locals across the nation bully teachers and competing organizations to maintain membership and power. I have published a new report on the details of this ugly trend in School Reform News. In February, a Utah teacher named Cole Kelly testified in favor of a bill that would penalize school districts for not granting all teacher organizations -- not just unions,...

Many commentators have noted the irony of anti-bullying “expert” Dan Savage’s “bullying” (as defined by his ilk) of high-school students at a recent journalism conference in Seattle, Washington. Yet it seems that the most important points about the matter have not been made. In case you missed the story, homosexual activist Savage called two dozen students “pansy-a***d” as they were walking out of his anti-bullying presentation last month. Their offense? They took exception to his profanity-laced criticism of Christianity, in which he equated biblical condemnations of homosexual behavior with the prohibition against eating shellfish and said “We ignore the b******t...

Part of the hypocrisy of the "anti-bullying" movement is that the concept of bullying is never defined in a meaningful way. Evidently, bullying is one of those things that is defined by the "victim." Hence, we have the spectacle of the man who created the video "It Gets Better" can speak against the bullying of gay kids, but then turn around and bully kids with Christian beliefs - and get away with it. Fox News: As many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after an anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible and reportedly...

If Obama and all these liberal groups supporting "It Gets Better" want to really stand up against bullying then they should stand up and tell the world that what Dan Savage did by bullying these Christian KIDS is wrong. Let me be clear, this following story from Todd Starnes of Fox News about Dan Savage of "It Gets Better" Bullying Christian kids is just another example of persecution and hypocrisy that Christians face in America. Worldwide now and throughout history, Christians are killed and bullied on a mass scale for believing in Jesus. bullying because of homosexuality does not even get measured on the same scale...

As many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after an anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible and reportedly called those who refused to listen to his rant “pansy asses.” The speaker was Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project, an anti-bullying campaign that has reached more than 40 million viewers with contributors ranging from President Obama to Hollywood stars. Savage also writes a sex advice column called “Savage Love.” Savage, and his husband, were also guests at the White House for President Obama’s 2011 LGBT Pride Month reception. He was also...

This dad wired his Autistic son because he was told that he was violent. The teacher and aids abuse the child and even called him a "b@stard". It makes me sick. Union teacher has tenure, aide was fired.

A nine-year-old Colorado boy has reportedly been suspended from his elementary school after standing up to a bully who was physically harming him. Nathan Pemberton, a third grade student, claims that he was subject to beatings from another child and when he finally garnered the courage to stand up for himself he was punished and removed from West Elementary School in Colorado Springs, which his parents think is ludicrous, according to Mail Online. "One kid kicked me in the back, then punched me in the face. Then I punched him in the face and then I got in trouble," Nathan...

NJ bully's paralyzing punch nets $4.2M settlement RAMSEY, N.J. – A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a middle school student who was paralyzed when a known bully punched him in the abdomen. The settlement between the Ramsey school district and the family of Sawyer Rosenstein, who had complained to the district about being bullied, was worked out over the past two months but not made public until last week. The family's lawsuit alleged school officials knew or should have known the boy's attacker had violent tendencies and failed to comply...

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) called President Obama a "bully" Wednesday at an event in South Carolina for his targeted remarks about the Supreme Court.

Wichita, Kan. (AP) -- A California boy attends only four days at a Kansas military boarding school where he is tormented by staff and students after breaking both his legs in separate incidents. A Tennessee student's stomach is forcibly branded as a rite of initiation. A Florida cadet breaks his hand fending off a student with a history of sexual abuse who tries to grope him, and school officials refuse to investigate or inform his parents of the attack. These claims are the latest additions to a growing list of former cadets who allege in a federal lawsuit they were...

A Facebook page appearing to belong to T.J. Lane, the suspected shooter at Chardon High School in Ohio, includes an essay describing a fantasy massacre that ends with the chilling words, “Die, all of you.” Lane, suspected of shooting classmates at his school Monday morning, appears to have taken to his Facebook page on Dec. 30 to post a rant about a “mistreated” man who takes revenge on the “the vermin in the street.” “He longed for only one thing, the world to bow at his feet,” the posting reads. “They too should feel his secret fear. The dismal drear.”...

One student was killed and four were wounded during a shooting early Monday at an Ohio high school, authorities said. A suspect, whose name has not been released, is in police custody. Civil deputy Erin Knife with the Geauga County Sheriff's Office said the shooting was reported around 7:30 a.m. Monday at Chardon High School. Related Slideshow One killed, four wounded in shooting at Ohio high school One student was killed and four were wounded during a shooting at an Ohio high school. shooting at Ohio high school Feb. 27: S.W.A.T. members leave Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio Monday....

an Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In U.S. educational circles, the prevention of "bullying" has become somewhat of a cause célèbre recently, despite its historical omnipresence in scholastic institutions. The trajectory of this trend, which is not what it appears on its face, is fraught with the potential of having a substantial corrosive effect on the First Amendment. First, what is bullying? Of course all of us understand what has been the standard definition of a bully, one who by their aggressive action, seeks to impose their will upon others. The Miriam Webster dictionary notes that bullying consists of "blustering"...

BOSTON—As part of the state's anti-bullying efforts in public schools, Gov. Deval Patrick has designated Jan. 25 as "No Name Calling Day" in Massachusetts.

CHEYENNE — Alexander Frye was usually quiet and shy around other 13-year-olds. He was slow to make friends at school, his family said, and he was often teased and bullied by classmates. With adults, Alex was a different person: He was talkative, made friendships easily and impressed even longtime Union Pacific veterans with his encyclopedic knowledge of trains. About 200 of those adults packed the American Legion Post 6 hall on Wednesday for a police debriefing on Alex, who shot himself in a field south of the Union Pacific railyards early Sunday morning, according to the Laramie County coroner. The...

NAPLES — A 15-year-old who fatally stabbed his school mate will no longer face criminal prosecution. A judge’s ruling, made public Tuesday, granted a motion to dismiss the second-degree murder charge against Jorge Saavedra in the death of 16-year-old Dylan Nuno on the grounds that he acted in self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The State Attorney’s Office has indicated that it will not appeal the ruling. Nuno’s family and friends criticized Collier County Circuit Judge Lauren Brodie’s decision, calling it “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking.” “We know this wasn’t the right decision,” said Dylan’s aunt, Adriana Nuno.“(The judge) is showing...

NEW YORK (AP) - Even before the Army sent him to Afghanistan, supporters say, Pvt. Daniel Chen was fighting a personal war. [snip] Then he was sent overseas, and the hazing began: Soldiers dragged him across a floor, pelted him with stones and forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while hanging upside down, according to diary entries and other accounts cited by a community activist. On Oct. 3, the 19-year-old Chen was found dead in a guardhouse in Afghanistan with what the Army said was apparently a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Last week in Boston, a seven-year-old boy named Mark got into a fight with a bully. The bully put his hands around the boy's throat and began to squeeze. That's when Mark fought back; he kicked his aggressor right in the family jewels. In a normal society, we'd celebrate Mark. Throw him a ticker tape parade or something. Bullies need a sharp kick to the testicles. That's how you convince them that bullying is wrong. But in Boston, Mark was charged with sexual assault. Just to get this straight: Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank's gay lover can run a homosexual prostitution...

The homosexual agenda could destroy the moral fabric of our country as they target children, since that is where our future lies. Have you checked your local school's curriculum and textbooks? Homosexual activists have set a well planned and well financed agenda that started in the 1960s and now includes not only tolerance of their lethal lifestyle but acceptance with privileges as a special class, as a minority group. The key target is our youth. This can be seen in the following written by "gay revolutionary" Mark Swift and printed in the February 15, 1987 issue of Gay Community News....

When a 14-year-old special needs student in Ohio told her father she was being bullied at school, he figured it was something that many teenagers endure. Then he realized it was his daughter’s teachers doing the bullying. “We were shocked,’’ he tearfully said. “We couldn’t know. We didn’t know.’’ After being told repeatedly by school administrators that his daughter was lying about being harassed and bullied, he outfitted her with a hidden tape recorder under her clothes. For the next four days, she recorded a series of abusive and cutting remarks from a teacher and a teacher’s aide at Miami...

As a transplanted Michigander, I’ve always maintained pride in my home state. I’ve only owned American cars. I believed in the Lions even during the really dismal years. I still point to my hand to show people which part of the state I’m from. But the Michigan legislature is doing its best to make me hang my head in shame. On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled state senate passed an anti-bullying bill that manages to protect school bullies instead of those they victimize. It accomplishes this impressive feat by allowing students, teachers, and other school employees to claim that “a sincerely held...

A proposed anti-bullying policy for West Virginia schools acknowledges that sexual orientation and gender identity are common reasons for harassment. The state Department of Education is taking public comments until 4 p.m. Tuesday about the 75-page student conduct and disciplinary policy that the Board of Education will consider Dec. 14. If approved, changes that specifically acknowledge the targeting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students would go into effect July 1, 2012.

The sad case of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old gay kid who committed suicide after being bullied, has inspired Lady Gaga to try to get involved in the situation. She’s insisting that bullying be made illegal. Since she’s a spoiled pop star suggesting an idea that’s about as sensible as wearing a meat suit, she probably won’t have much luck with it. And she certainly shouldn’t.That being said, I have more empathy for Jamey Rodemeyer and other kids like him because I was bullied in high school and can tell you that it’s a horrible experience. Not only are you afraid...

Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were "a thousand-fold worse cases" involving black defendants, "but the world does not worry over them." Holmes said: "I cannot but ask myself why this so much greater interest in red than black." To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored. That is, what groups...

An article by the Associated Press published Saturday reports incidents of bullying in Alabama schools toward Hispanic children. The article quotes several Hispanic parents who say the bullying stems from Alabama's new immigration law. The legislation is always a hot-button issue and a number of al.com readers posted opinions on the article. Among the more than 150 comments, responses varied, with some debating the validity of the article because a number of quoted sources were unnamed due to their illegal status. Also, the Alabama Department of Education was cited in the article as receiving no reports of bullying linked to...

No matter where you look these days there is a news report, commentary, study or conference on the growing National epidemic of bullying. One television network recently aired a multi-platform series on bullying. The National Education Association released statistics in 2010 indicating that every day 160,000 children miss school out of fear of some form of bullying, verbal, physical or cyber-bullying. Bullying is a real problem, but it is not a new phenomenon. It does appear to be on the increase and concern over bullying is legitimate. I have raised five children and now have six grandchildren. I have had...

A 17-year-old senior says he was kicked off the cheerleading squad and suspended because he kissed another male at their high school in Alice, Texas. The boy told KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi on Thursday that he was suspended after he was seen on surveillance camera with the fellow student in the school's band hall. "They never check [school] cameras for anything unless something is stolen," the student said to KRIS, asking that his identity not be revealed. "I'm sure we were the only ones, sexual orientation-wise, being caught like that." The teen has done cheerleading for years and had just...

We all know that many bullies get their start in the sandbox, not the boardroom, and that their youngest victims can nurture the resulting hurt for a lifetime. No surprise, then, that next week, "Sesame Street's" Big Bird and Elmo--who despite their agelessness have been around a long time--will tackle the subject of bullying in its earliest phases. Three new episodes devoted to bullying air Monday, Tuesday and Friday (Oct. 17, 18 and 21), kicking off a broad initiative that includes a Web page with advice and discussion for parents and activities for kids and a five-part video series that...

Four New York State Senators, Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, David Carlucci and David Valesky (all Democrats btw...surprise, surprise), have all signed off on a proposal to turn your free speech right, a right that is inherent to all people by virture of their being people, into a right that can be restricted. Proponents of a more refined First Amendment argue that this freedom should be treated not as a right but as a privilege — a special entitlement granted by the state on a conditional basis that can be revoked if it is ever abused or maltreated. That's right. They...

Lady Gaga appeared at an Obama fundraiser last weekend demanding attention legislation aimed at protecting gay bullying victims from their tormenters. But what about all of the other kids around the country who get picked on, beaten up or ostracized for being smart, overweight, or just well looking different than the other kids? As someone who was relegated to the nerdy side of the cafeteria when I was in high school, what about us, Miss Germanotta – to use Lady Gaga’s proper name? I do not mean to diminish or condone bullying against anyone on account of who individuals have...

Catherine Devine had her first brush with an online bully in seventh grade, before she'd even ventured onto the Internet. Someone set up the screen name "devinegirl" and, posing as Catherine, sent her classmates instant messages full of trashy talk and lies. "They were making things up about me, and I was the most innocent 12-year-old ever," Devine remembers. "I hadn't even kissed anybody yet." As she grew up, Devine, now 22, learned to thrive in the electronic village. But like other young people, she occasionally stumbled into one of its dark alleys. A new Associated Press-MTV poll of youth...

Performance artist Lady Gaga is calling on the government to make bullying a federal offense. Reacting to the recent suicide of bullied gay Buffalo teen Jamey Rodemeyer, the 25-year-old New Yorker tweeted Wednesday, “Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be [sic] illegal. It is a hate crime.” Linking to the late boy’s “It Gets Better” YouTube video, which encourages viewers to love themselves and ignore the haters, Lady Gaga said she’s been sobbing, musing, and shouting since the tormented 14-year-old’s Sunday death. “The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling,” Lady...

The Long Island woman accused of inciting a bare-knuckle brawl between her 12-year-old daughter and another child insists she's not the monster mom depicted in shocking video of the fight. "I'm not the bad person they're making me out to be," Daphne Melin, 32, told the Daily News Tuesday. "My daughter's been cyber-bullied. They called her whore, b---h and the 's' word," she said, sporting long, thick black eyeliner and huge hoop earrings. "I've talked to the principals at her school, and that's gotten me nowhere - no help," she claimed. "I've taken it upon myself to do what I...

It's one sentence. And it has thrown Minnesota's largest school district into the national debate on gay rights. "Anoka-Hennepin staff, in the course of their professional duties, shall remain neutral on matters regarding sexual orientation including but not limited to student led discussions." Controversy over that line within Anoka-Hennepin schools' Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy has hung over the suburban district for more than two years. The policy itself is the only known one like it in Minnesota. Parents of students who are gay, bisexual or transgender, or perceived to be, say the directive leaves their children vulnerable to bullies. Teachers...

In less than two months, school districts across the state will be operating under some of the strictest anti-bullying policies in the nation. Yet local school officials say they are still confused about some of the state requirements and are unclear on how some aspects of the policies will be implemented. What's more, they say, the potential workload brought on by the new regulations could inundate schools, which in many cases are operating on leaner staffs than they were a few years ago. Before the start of the school year in September, districts must adopt individual anti-bullying policies, although much...

A 12-year-old Dallas student was bound to a chair with duct tape and beaten by four classmates as a substitute teacher stood and ignored the attack, according to the victim's mom. The Dallas school district is investigating the charges made by Keneshia Richardson, who claims the attackers wrapped tape around her son's mouth to keep him from shouting. "It was uncalled for," Richardson told The Dallas Morning News, adding her son had trouble breathing. The woman said his hands were taped to the chair, he was wrapped with a telephone cord, and the attackers knocked him to the ground. The...

This news story totally infuriated me. Headline: Van Jones' Political Group Targets 'Celebrity Apprentice'. Text by Daniel Miller, Reuters "An African-American political advocacy group is targeting "Celebrity Apprentice" star Donald Trump in the aftermath of what many feel are racially tinged political comments made about President Obama. On Thursday, the organization ColorOfChange launched a Twitter-based campaign to persuade black 'Celebrity Apprentice' cast members Star Jones and Lil Jon to denounce Trump for what the group terms 'race-baiting.'" I am so sick of these racist so-called civil rights groups bullying people with race. It is an indisputable fact that the liberal...

Attention readers: The following is the first of a two-part series.I was bullied once. I was about 10 years old. Unfortunately, many kids can't protect themselves like I once did. Even worse, so much bullying today has turned to torment. Yesteryear's boyhood brawls have transformed into today's torture. It's a new day in which social networks have created cyber-bullying. Why harass a kid in a school hall with a handful of kids when one can use Facebook and YouTube to bully him or her repeatedly in full view of the whole world? In so doing, the public damage and consequences...

Two teenagers have been convicted in connection with the suicide of Phoebe Prince who hanged herself after months of relentless bullying. Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, both 18, pleaded guilty to the criminal harassment of Phoebe who was just 15 when she died. She had recently moved to Massachusetts from Ireland and briefly dated Mulveyhill. They are the only two of the six teenagers who were charged in connection with Phoebe's bullying-related suicide at South Hadley High school.

With South Hadley High School preparing for a new principal and the School Committee moving forward with several new members, former South Hadley School Committee Chairman Ed Boisselle says he is still not convinced that Phoebe Prince or her family sought help from the school because of continuous bullying from South Hadley students.

Five of the six teenagers charged with driving a 15-year-old Irish girl to suicide after an unrelenting bullying campaign have struck a plea deal agreement with prosecutors. Despite denying the original charges of stalking, harassment and civil rights violations causing bodily injury they have now agreed to admit to a misdemeanour charge of harassment, and in exchange prosecutors will drop the more serious charges against them. Kayla Narey, Sharon Chanon Velázquez, Ashley Longe, Sean Mulveyhill, and Flannery Mullins, all of South Hadley High School, faced felony and misdemeanour charges.

One of six teens charged in a notorious bullying case has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors in western Massachusetts. A court motion filed today by an attorney for 17-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez says lawyers expect to present a proposed plea deal to a Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court judge for consideration next week. Velazquez faces charges including criminal harassment and stalking. She was among six charged last year after the suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, a South Hadley High freshman who had transferred from Ireland. All have pleaded not guilty.